Suri Cruise, Blue Ivy Carter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt… they may all be under the age of seven, but they’re household names. The amount of attention paid to celebrity children these days is astounding. Sometimes, it seems like these kids get even more attention than their famous parents. I feel like I know more about Suri’s life than Katie’s or Tom’s.
While being followed by the paparazzi and gossiped about in the media comes with the territory of being famous, celebrity kids don’t choose to have attention. They are born into it. It’s one thing for famous adults who chose to be famous to be talked about, but is it really okay for the media to target their children as well?
Suri’s Burn Book is a popular blog where writer Allie Hagan makes fun of celebrity children from Suri’s point of view. Her banter on the blog is extremely witty and entertaining, but it’s important to stop and think about what she’s really doing–making fun of helpless kids she doesn’t even know. The blog has had so much success that Hagan just released a book entitled Suri’s Burn Book, Well-Dressed Commentary From Hollywood’s Little Sweetheart.
It’s one thing to write a blog on the internet, but the fact that this woman was able to publish a book and profit from making fun of kids really irks me. She’s using a little girl, whose parents just got divorced, no less, to make money.
Despite criticism, Hagan says her comments are all in good fun and shouldn’t be taken seriously. “I think the humor of it all comes from the fact that it’s ridiculous,” she says. “We all pay way too much attention to these kids than we should. I’m trying to shine a light on how silly it is that we care at all by taking it to a satirically ridiculous level.”
The way I see it, her attempt at satire is bringing even more attention to these kids than before, so she’s just contributing to the problem instead of doing something to fix it.
Do you think it’s okay for people to make fun of celebrity children? At what point is it not okay? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
guest
This is just a cute and entertaining blog. Obv it is not mean spirited nor meant to be taken seriously.
guest
Sounds like a fun little blog. Why not.
sunflower / 300 posts
I think a blog from the faux perspective of a celebrity’s kid sounds adorable! On the other hand, I’d hope that it would make fun of adult celebrities within it, not so much about children. Celebrity or not, I feel uncomfortable making fun of kids
guest
Yes, why not.
guest
I actually don’t think it’s okay. If this was YOUR child or some regular kid off the street, it would be bullying and it wouldn’t be tolerated. Why is it alright just because these kids are in the public eye? They didn’t CHOOSE to have famous parents and they didn’t choose to be followed by the paps – their PARENTS chose that lifestyle, not them. I just think it stinks of unfairness – if you wouldn’t want it done to your child, don’t do it to other people’s.
guest
I don’t really think it’s ok. One day these kids might go online & google themselves out of curiosity & then what? If someone had written a blog about me when I was younger, especially one bashing me, I would have been as devastated as I was when I would find out my best friend was talking about me behind my back. Kids are very fragile, they don’t have a lot of self esteem & these kids, well, no one really knows how they accept their place in society, if they’re well adjusted or having problems, because most celebrity parents try to keep that kind of stuff out of the media.
What I’m trying to say is, being a kid is hard, growing up sucks & being an insecure preteen/teen is horrible enough without having to see your face plastered on magazines or on the internet. They never asked for their parents to be famous yet they have to deal with the repercussions. I hate saying this because I know life isn’t fair, but it’s simply not fair for them.
guest
I like the part where you suggested that adults CHOOSE to be famous.
Adults join professions as a way to make money. Some of them do strive to become household names, sure. But there are many more who did not choose to become famous and rather just wanted to act or make music, and the media ran away with them before they were prepared. A lot of famous people try to stay out of the public eye, in fact, but we seem to have no qualms about invading their privacy and forcing personal information out into the public.
So I think the more important question is, “Why are we okay with invading ANYONE’S privacy and making fun of or saying cruel things about ANYONE?”
guest
no not ok.
guest
Never heard of the blog. Thank you for advertising it and getting the word out!